We are run by MSF associations, whose members are mostly current and former field staff
Our members share a commitment to independent medical humanitarian action, and collectively own and manage MSF through national and regional associations.
Members engage to defend the values expressed in our Charter. They voice their views on our action and approach, informing and steering MSF's direction.
Members elect the governing board and president of each association and hold them accountable for their actions.
video
Associative engagement and participation among MSF staff and members.
The MSF Associations
We are a field-based movement engaging MSF volunteers and staff from all over the world in a shared commitment to medical humanitarian action.
Through MSF associations, members have the right and responsibility to voice their opinions and contribute to the definition and guidance of our social mission. The associations bring together individuals in formal and informal debates and activities - in the field, in general assemblies at national and regional levels, and in an annual international assembly.
Because the people making the decisions are current or former field or office staff, MSF remains relevant to the needs seen in the field, and focused on medical care and on our core principles: independence, impartiality, and neutrality.
27 MSF Associations
Today, the international MSF movement is composed of 27 associations around the world.
Each of them is an independent legal entity registered in the country where they operate. The associations elect their own board of directors and president during their General Assembly.
The associations are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Central America & Mexico (CAMEX), Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, East Africa, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, Latin America, Luxembourg, Norway, South Asia, Southern Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA, and West and Central Africa regional association.
Our offices around the world
The MSF associations are linked to six Operational Centres (OC) who directly manage our humanitarian action in the field and decide when, where, and what medical care is needed.
MSF sections are offices that support our field work. They mainly recruit staff, organise fundraising, and raise awareness on the humanitarian crises our teams are witnessing. Each MSF section is linked to an association which defines the strategic direction of the section, and holds the section accountable for its work.
Some MSF sections have opened branch offices to extend this support work further. Currently there are 24 sections and 18 branch offices around the world.
Additional satellite offices exist to support our work, mainly for logistics, supply and epidemiology.
MSF International
All 27 MSF associations, as well as individuals and the International President, are members of MSF International, the association that safeguards the identity of the MSF movement.
The highest authority of MSF International, the annual International General Assembly (IGA) is made up of representatives of each association as well as of individual membership, and the International President. The International President, who is currently Dr Christos Christou, is elected by the IGA. Each representative, and the International President, has one independent vote on issues brought to the assembly for resolution.
The IGA is responsible for safeguarding MSF’s medical humanitarian mission, and provides strategic orientation to all MSF entities. It delegates duties to the International Board, and holds the board accountable for those tasks.
The International Board is made up of representatives of the Operational Centres as well as a group elected by the IGA, and is chaired by the International President.
MSF International's executive provides coordination, information and support to the MSF movement, and implements international projects and initiatives as requested. Its costs are paid by MSF’s national executive offices. Christopher Lockyear is the current Secretary General of MSF International.
MSF International is registered in Switzerland and has a secretariat called the International Office.
The International President
The International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) chairs the International Board and the International General Assembly, and represents MSF International externally.
The International President is elected by the International General Assembly. They must have a medical background and can serve a maximum of two three-year terms. He or she cannot hold an executive position or sit on the board of another MSF association. The International President can serve a maximum of two three-year terms. Dr Christos Christou was elected as the International President of Médecins Sans Frontières, taking up his post in 2019.
Dr Christos Christou
International President
Dr Christos Christou commenced his role as International President of Médecins Sans Frontières in the first week of September 2019. Before this, he held a number of roles in the field with MSF and with the Association in MSF Greece. Dr Christou joined MSF in 2002, where his first assignment was in Greece as a field doctor, working with migrants and refugees, before working as a doctor in an HIV/AIDS project in Zambia in 2004 and 2005. After a break from field missions for a number of years while he trained as a surgeon, from 2013 he joined MSF missions in a number of conflict zones and insecure contexts, including South Sudan, Iraq and, most recently, Cameroon, as an emergency and trauma surgeon.
Born in Trikala, a small town in central Greece, Dr Christou graduated from Aristotle University’s medical school in Thessaloniki, Greece, and has a PhD in Surgery from the Kapodestrian University of Athens. He holds a Masters in International Health - Health Crisis Management from the University of Athens and is member of its faculty.
Dr Christou later specialised in general and emergency surgery in the Surgical and Transplant Unit of Evangelismos Hospital in Athens. In 2013 he moved to London, working as a Senior Clinical Fellow in Colorectal surgery at King’s College Hospital, and in 2018 became Consultant of Colorectal and Emergency Surgery at North Middlesex University Hospital. In 2018 he was awarded Fellow of the European Board of Surgery in Coloproctology.
Dr Christou was first General Secretary, then Vice-President and finally President of MSF Greece Board of Directors from 2005 until his election as International President in June 2019. In 2022, Dr Christou was re-elected as International President for another three-year mandate, which will end in mid-2025.
The International Board
The International Board (IB) is the board of MSF International. It acts on behalf of and is accountable to the International General Assembly (IGA). As the highest associative governance body of MSF, the IGA delegates duties to the Board, as defined in the Statutes of the association.
The International Board (IB) is intended to have mainly a guiding role, ensuring accountability and facilitating agreement within the MSF movement in a timely manner.
The IB is composed of: the International President; one representative for each operational centres (five people); six additional people elected by the IGA. Two-thirds of IB members must have a medical background. Additional non-voting members, such as a treasurer, can be co-opted by the IB depending on its needs.
The members of the International Board, in addition to the International President, are:
Dr Leslie Shanks
Dr Oscar Bernal
Dr Oscar Bernal grew up and studied medicine in Colombia and has doctorate in public health from Spain. He has worked with MSF for more than 28 years in more than 20 countries, including Angola as a field doctor/surgeon, in Liberia (1995) as medical coordinator, Sudan (1996) as head of mission, Russia (1997) as project coordinator, and Guatemala (1999), Bolivia (2001), Indonesia (2007), and Colombia (2009) as a medical coordinator. Oscar also worked as a technical adviser on infectious diseases from 2003 to 2009. He has participated in several MSF associations, including MSF France and MSF Spain, and was involved in the creation and development of MSF Latin America. He works as a professor and MPH coordinator in the University of Andes, Colombia. Oscar was elected to the International Board in 2023.
Sam Bumicho
Sam Bumicho has a diploma in Clinical Medicine & Surgery. After completing his medical internship at Kenyatta National Referral hospital in Nairobi in 2004, Sam started working with MSF in Kenya, first as a Project Coordinator Assistant in Mbagathi district hospital, Nairobi and later on as a clinical officer and HIV/TB contact clinician in Kibera. After he left MSF in 2016, Sam started working with Amref Health Africa. He is currently County Coordinator of Amref Health Africa’s project in the county of Tana River, Kenya.
Erastus Cheti
Dr Ali Ouattara
Dr Isabelle Defourny
Paula Gil
Dr Saleem Kassam
Katrin Kisswani
Yvan Legris
Yvan Legris joined the International Board as Treasurer in January 2017. Prior to joining MSF, he spent over 30 years at HR Consulting firm Aon Hewitt where he became the global Chief Executive of the consulting division in 2012. Yvan is an actuary by profession and has been pursuing a Masters in Humanitarian Action at the CERAH since September 2016. He has been a volunteer advisor on HR projects to the MSF International Office since April 2016. He was born in Mauritius and lives in London.
Yves McGale
Dr Micaela Serafini
Parthesarathy (Sarathi) Rajendran